Chapter 166: My First Public Shot Made an Elite Dive Straight at Me

Raven frowned as the range continued increasing.

The Mk.I could probably send a projectile far beyond three hundred meters, but maximum range wasn’t the problem. He trusted the rifle’s raw power far more than he trusted its current ability to place that power exactly where he wanted.

Ballistic calibration was still only thirty-six percent, and the conditions were getting worse by the second. There was wind, a moving target, the Wyvern’s Wind Mantle, and an Elite capable of correcting its trajectory in three dimensions.

Firing now would only prove the weapon could reach that far.

Raven needed to prove it could hit.

Valeria watched him track the Wyvern through the sights.

"Can you reach it?"

"Yes."

The guard beside them widened his eyes.

Raven continued.

"Hitting it is a different question."

That reduced the impact of the first answer somewhat.

The Wyvern banked at roughly three hundred meters.

Raven lowered the muzzle slightly.

"I need it closer."

Valeria understood immediately.

"How close?"

"Under two hundred if I get to choose."

"And a clean trajectory."

"Yes."

"I can give you a correction."

Raven looked at her.

"Don’t try to hurt it."

"How insulting."

"Make it turn."

Valeria smiled.

"That I can do."

The Wyvern didn’t attack immediately.

For once, Raven appreciated being watched.

It gave him time.

He settled the stock against his shoulder.

The first shot from the Mk.I had almost dumped mana directly into his arm. The second had punched through four centimeters of laminated iron, and every shot after that had been used to build calibration data.

None of them had been fired at something alive.

None at an Elite.

Raven felt something familiar returning.

Not nostalgia.

Not exactly.

Procedure.

Judge the wind, distance, movement, angle, background, and target. Control breathing. Confirm the weapon. Wait for the right shot.

The Mk.I itself was unfamiliar.

The principles weren’t.

FORGE displayed the current firing data.

[Recommended Mana Input for Target Hardness: 14%.]

[Current Ammunition: Standardized Hardened-Steel Projectile.]

[Thermal State: NORMAL.]

[Structural State: STABLE.]

[Ballistic Calibration: 36%.]

Raven reduced the output to twelve percent.

He didn’t want maximum power yet, not from a weapon with only six live-fire cycles behind it before today.

Valeria noticed.

"You’re not using everything?"

"No."

"It’s an Elite."

"That’s why I want the rifle to still exist afterward."

The Wyvern began descending again.

Roland shouted from across the relay.

"Northwest! Faster this time!"

Raven found the silhouette and began tracking it.

Two hundred seventy meters.

Two hundred fifty.

Two hundred thirty.

The Wyvern wasn’t aiming for Raven.

Not yet.

It was heading toward the courtyard again.

Valeria extended both hands.

She didn’t form a barrier.

She formed an attack.

Twenty Blood Needles appeared around her.

Raven kept his eye aligned with the sights.

"Not too early."

"I know what I’m doing."

"I know."

Valeria glanced at him.

Only briefly.

Raven didn’t have enough time to wonder why that made her smile.

Two hundred ten meters.

The Wyvern spread its wings.

The Wind Mantle became visible as a faint distortion around its body.

Two hundred.

"Now."

Valeria fired.

The Blood Needles didn’t travel in a single line.

They spread.

A net.

They weren’t meant to penetrate the defense.

They were there to occupy airspace.

The Wyvern corrected to the right.

Exactly as Raven needed.

Too far.

Raven didn’t fire.

Valeria understood immediately.

She changed the second formation.

Three Blood Lances rose from below, forcing the creature to correct again.

Left.

Then level.

For perhaps one second, its trajectory became predictable.

That was enough.

Raven inhaled.

Exhaled.

Natural pause.

Stock firm against his shoulder.

Finger pressure.

The Mk.I woke.

The Deepwell Reservoir released mana through the primary channels.

The Impulse Spark activated.

Blue light traveled along the biological filaments.

The Pulse Core contracted.

The Pressure Chamber engaged.

Air trembled around the rear exhaust ports.

The guard beside Raven stared at the weapon.

"What is—"

Raven fired.

BOOM.

South Relay went silent.

Not metaphorically.

The rifle’s report overwhelmed everything else.

The horses recoiled inside the corral. Two people ducked by instinct, and dust erupted behind Raven as the rear vents discharged their compensating pressure.

There was no magic circle.

No visible spear.

No glowing trail crossing the sky.

To almost everyone watching, Raven had pointed an unfamiliar object toward the heavens and something impossible had happened.

Two hundred meters away, the Wyvern’s Wind Mantle burst apart.

The effect was visible.

Mana around the left wing suddenly folded inward before exploding outward like a transparent surface struck by something moving far too fast.

The projectile lost energy.

Its trajectory shifted slightly.

But it continued.

It struck near the outer joint of the Wyvern’s wing.

Not deep enough.

The hardened steel tore away scales, opened flesh, and sent a spray of dark blood into the air.

The Wyvern shrieked.

Its injured wing lost tension for a fraction of a second.

That was enough.

The creature dropped nearly twenty meters before recovering.

Nobody at South Relay spoke.

Raven was already evaluating the shot.

Too much deflection through the Wind Mantle.

Shallow penetration.

The defensive current had absorbed more energy than expected.

But the shot had accomplished something every archer at the relay had failed to do.

It had wounded the Elite.

FORGE updated.

[Hit Confirmed.]

[Wind Mantle: DISRUPTED.]

[Estimated Terminal Effectiveness After Barrier Penetration: 41%.]

[Target Injury: MINOR.]

[Live Target Ballistic Data Acquired.]

[Ballistic Calibration: 36% → 43%.]

[Structural Stress: 14%.]

[Thermal Accumulation: 16%.]

Raven opened the breech.

A thin stream of vapor escaped from the chamber.

No deformation.

No visible residue obstructing the barrel.

The firing cycle had completed cleanly.

The guard beside him was still staring.

"What...?"

"Later."

The man looked deeply unsatisfied with that answer.

Raven didn’t care.

Seven standardized rounds remained.

Valeria wasn’t looking at the rifle.

She was looking at the Wyvern.

"You hit it."

"Yes."

"At that distance."

"Yes."

"While it was moving."

Raven reached for another projectile.

"It isn’t dead."

Valeria smiled.

"I like how you found the only negative part."

"It’s also the part that can still kill us."

That diminished her smile slightly.

The Wyvern regained altitude.

But it wasn’t retreating.

It turned.

Raven saw its head move.

The dark eyes searched the relay.

Then fixed on something specific.

Him.

Not Valeria.

Not Roland.

Not the archers.

Raven.

The creature released a shriek sharp enough to cut through the open air.

The Wind Mantle reformed around the injured wing, though the flow was visibly uneven now.

Valeria looked from the Wyvern to Raven.

"I think it knows who you are now."

Raven inserted the second standardized projectile into the breech.

"That simplifies the second shot."

Six rounds remained in the case.

Roland came running from the eastern side of the courtyard.

"What the hell was that?"

"The rifle."

"I know it was the rifle!"

"Then the question was imprecise."

"Raven!"

The Wyvern stopped climbing.

Raven closed the breech.

FORGE reacted.

[Standardized Projectile Loaded.]

[Target Hostile Focus: CONFIRMED.]

[Range: 241 m.]

The creature folded its wings.

This wasn’t the same descent as before.

It wasn’t looking for food.

It wasn’t choosing a horse.

It turned its entire body into a falling spear.

Straight toward Raven.

Its speed climbed rapidly.

Two hundred thirty meters.

Two hundred ten.

One hundred ninety.

Roland raised his bow.

"It’s coming for you!"

"I noticed."

Valeria began forming Blood Lances.

Raven settled the stock against his shoulder.

The sights found the Wyvern.

One hundred seventy meters.

Faster.

The Wind Mantle compressed tightly around its body, turning the dive into something even more violent.

FORGE filled Raven’s vision.

[Target Velocity Increasing.]

[Estimated Impact Trajectory: OPERATOR.]

[Recommended Action: EVADE.]

Raven didn’t move.

Not yet.

The Wyvern continued falling directly toward him.